By Claude-Héléne Desrosiers
TOURISM. Extreme heat, heavy rain. This capricious weather since the beginning of summer has had a major impact on the Village québécois d’antan (VQA). The attraction, which was aiming for an early summer with a 20% increase in traffic, has had to settle for similar attendances to last year.
Saturday morning. A drizzle that turns into light rain. Sunshine every now and then. The visitors we met at the VQA were ready: clad in raincoats and armed with umbrellas, they enjoyed a visit without much traffic.
Among those interviewed by L’Express, only one person was from Drummondville. The others were all from outside, even from Roberval. Half of them were not present on their first visit. “I came here during sugaring off season a few years ago. “We’re coming back with the kids and grandkids,” said a lady from Sherbrooke. Another, from Saint-Élie-de-Caxton, hadn’t come for fifteen years but wanted to see the changes being made to the Village this year.
These innovations, announced in the spring, aim to further revitalize the VQA, which has existed since 1977. The project, called Enter History, is a collaboration with Moment Factory. Five houses are animated with a lot of humor: that of the photographer, the telephone operator, the patentist, the hat maker and the lamp seller. We can immediately tell that these houses are special from the sculptures that adorn their facades and the sounds that emanate from them. More entertainment, more music, more interaction with the audience: the proposal offers a new experience.
The Village team expected hype; We have to admit that the weather doesn’t exactly help them. “The entire tourism industry is affected by traffic this year. Due to the weather conditions, we were not able to achieve the expected forecasts, especially in the context of the “Enter the History” project. On our side, we are seeing a less significant drop so far than other attractions that have seen a larger drop, around 20%. We are facing what we had in terms of traffic last year,” explains Stéfany Duguay, Director of Communications and Marketing at the VQA. She also points out that online reservations are less common and people prefer to buy their tickets locally.
“Of course it’s only been three weeks since the start of the season. For the full season we had a 30% increase as forecast; An increase of 20% was expected for the start of the season. For now, we are maintaining our visits,” adds Ms. Duguay.
While the weather has a greater impact on the roads, on Earth programming is adapted to temperature. For example, when it rains, people can do the experiments indoors.
Mixed reactions
While the addition of interactive animations enchants some, others are perplexed. For example, as soon as you enter the VQA, you go through a “time machine”. One visitor finds the addition of something so futuristic “strange”. On the other hand, it’s the opposite: “I really liked the entrance with the time machine, I found it very interesting, it immediately gets us in the mood.” A young couple was torn. When he came two years ago he found that there was more animation but that there was quite a lot of noise everywhere. Her 10-year-old daughter was even disappointed when she found out there would be these changes, as she feared the VQA would deviate too far from the old days. The young mother emphasized that she particularly appreciates the human aspect in dealing with the actors, which is so important in the Village.
The sample of testimonials collected remains small, but the light traffic that Saturday morning spoke for itself.